Accompanying the miniaturization and performance enhancement of electronic equipment in recent years, a larger number of pins are included in a semiconductor chip of the electronic equipment, and smaller electronic components of various types constitute the electronic equipment. Accordingly, there has been a dramatic increase in the number and density of wirings in a substrate on which these chips and components are mounted. In particular, the number of terminals in the semiconductor chip and the number of leads led out from the semiconductor chip have increased rapidly, thus narrowing the terminal pitch of the semiconductor chip and the wiring pitch of the substrate on which the semiconductor chip is mounted (a printed board). Consequently, it has become technologically difficult to solder the semiconductor chip. Also, since more layers of finer substrates on which the semiconductor chips are mounted are stacked, an increase in the cost of the substrates has become apparent.
Further, in order to respond to the demand for a higher-density packaging of the electronic components and a higher performance of the substrate on which the electronic components are mounted, research and development actively have been conducted on a system-on-chip (SOC) technology using a system LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit) obtained by providing a single chip of a semiconductor device with a large number of functions and a system-in-package (SIP) technology constituting a single package of one or more semiconductor chips and a plurality of active components and passive components.
For example, Patent document 1 suggests a semiconductor apparatus having a single IC (Integrated Circuit) chip in which a driving element and a control circuit are incorporated.
FIG. 11 is a structural view showing a semiconductor apparatus suggested in Patent document 1. As shown in FIG. 11, a semiconductor apparatus 200 has a substrate 201, and a driving IC chip 202 and a controlling IC chip 203 that are provided separately on the substrate 201.
The driving IC chip 202 includes a transmission-reception antenna 202a, an RF (Radio Frequency) circuit 202b connected to the transmission-reception antenna 202a, a driving element 202c, a control signal detection circuit 202d for detecting a signal for driving the driving element 202c by a signal demodulated by the RF circuit 202b and an anomaly detection circuit 202e for detecting an anomaly when an anomaly occurs in the driving element 202c. On the other hand, the controlling IC chip 203 includes a transmission-reception antenna 203a, an RF circuit 203b connected to the transmission-reception antenna 203a and a control circuit 203c for controlling the driving element 202c incorporated in the driving IC chip 202.
The semiconductor apparatus 200 transmits a signal between the driving IC chip 202 and the controlling IC chip 203 via the transmission-reception antennas 202a and 203a, so that the signal can be transmitted by radio waves between the IC chips. This makes it possible to omit wirings or the like for forming a transmission path of the signal between the IC chips, allowing miniaturization of the entire semiconductor apparatus. Furthermore, the driving element 202c and the control circuit 203c are incorporated into different IC chips, thereby preventing heat generated from the driving element 202c from propagating to the control circuit 203c, so that the performance of the control circuit 203c can be prevented from deteriorating.
Patent document 1: JP 2003-218315 A
However, in the semiconductor apparatus 200 suggested in Patent document 1, not only a block responsible for an operation, a storage, etc., which are original functions of a semiconductor, but also a circuit block for signal transmission becomes necessary in each of the IC chips 202 and 203, so that the manufacturing cost increases. Also, since an existing semiconductor chip cannot be used, the versatility is poor.
Moreover, since the RF circuits 202b and 203b respectively are provided in the IC chips 202 and 203, noise due to electromagnetic waves has a greater influence on the driving element 202c and the control circuit 203c. Further, even if the anomaly detection circuit 202e could detect the anomaly attributable to the noise due to electromagnetic waves, the semiconductor apparatus 200 still cannot execute a normal operation while the anomaly lasts.